Anniversary
by Falrox
Summary: It's the anniversary of Robin's parent's deaths and he's acting completely unlike himself, which Wally enjoys. please R&R.


Richard Grayson opened his locker and placed his bag in it. As he grabbed a bag with his 'Robin' suit in it, his friend Floyd walked up to him.

"Hey Richy,"

"What do you want Floyd?"

"Relax man, I was just going to see if you wanted to come to a party tonight."

Dick's body tensed.

"I-I can't, sorry. I promised to hang out with my dad today."

"O.k. Well if you can it's at Ryan's house."

Dick nodded and Floyd walked away.

"Why not?"

Dick turned around and saw his best friend Wally West.

"Why what?"

"Why can't you go to the party?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because I'm going."

"Oh, well I can't because I promised my dad I'd hang out with him today."

"I thought your dad was dead?"

Dick froze, forgetting that Wally knew his secret. Dick slammed his locker closed and quickly headed towards the exit, but Wally grabbed his shoulder.

"Rob, are you o.k.? If something's wrong, you know you can tell me right?"

Robin nodded and Wally let him go. Robin hurried out the door and towards the park. He sat down on a bench and let his thoughts overwhelmed him.

_'Happy birthday Daddy.'_

_'Thank you Richy.'_

_'Did you like the cake?'_

_'Yes I did.'_

Robin imagined his younger-self giggling.

Robin shivered as his mind wandered to the hour before the event.

_'D-daddy, I'm nervous.'_

_'Well why don't you watch from the booth?'_

_'Yeah, just watch from the booth sweetie.'_

_'O.k. Mommy.'_

_'If you're ever nervous again, just remember, 'We'll always be here.'_

Robin held back tears as he heard the sounds of rope snapping, people screaming, bones crunching, and his own whimpering sobs.

"Hey.."

Robin jumped up in fright as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Whoa! It's just me."

"S-sorry Wally."

"Are you sure you're o.k.?"

When Robin didn't answer, Wally nodded and patted him on the back before walking away.

Robin walked down the sidewalk feeling bad for not talking to Wally. When he reached a set of gates, he looked up at the sign.

'Gotham city cemetery'

Robin walked through and found his parent's gravestones. He sat down with his back leaning against another gravestone.

_'Hi mommy, hi daddy.'_

_'Hi Richy.'_

_'Hi sweetie.'_

Robin felt tears well-up in his eyes. He saw a shadow appear on the ground in front of him. He stood up and turned around. Artemis standing next to the old and dead tree.

"Robin, are you o.k.? What's wrong?"

Robin shook his head. Artemis put her arm around him and walked him back to Mount Justice. When they got there, Artemis sat Robin on the couch and turned on the t.v.

"I'll be right back."

Robin flipped through the channels, trying to distract himself, he stopped on a commercial for a huge pool. While he was watching the commercial, Megan, Superboy, Kaldur, and Wally walked into the kitchen.

"Hi Artemis."

"Hi Superboy."

They all started talking about their day at school. The commercial ended and a show about a circus came on and Robin froze when the camera focused on a pair of trapeze artists.

"Hey, what's wrong with Robin?"

Superboy stared at the back of Robin's head in confusion.

"I don't know, he won't tell me."

Suerboy walked over to the couch and poked the back of Robin's head. He grinned at the way Robin's head moved like a bobble-head. Superboy repeatedly poked him until he got bored and walked back to the kitchen.

"He's been like this all day."

Robin stared at the screen and saw that the trapeze artists were male and female. He couldn't contain it anymore.

"I-Is he...crying?Megan looked surprised.

Everyone looked at Robin, who was holding his head in his hands and shaking. They walked over and surrounded the weeping boy. Megan placed a hand on Robin's back.

"Robin, what's wrong?"

Robin didn't answer, but he got up and headed towards his and Wally's shared room. Wally ran and grabbed Robin's arm, but he yanked it away.

"Just leave me alone!"

Wally just stood there with his mouth open in shock as Robin slammed the bedroom door closed.

"R-Robin..."

Artemis walked over to Wally and shook him.

"Wally. Wally!"

Wally stumbled and fell in surprise. He sat there on the ground, sadness in his eyes. Wally heard the crying become quieter. He stood up and tried the door. It opened and he walked in.

"R-Robin?"

Sniffling.

Wally walked over to Robin's bed and lifted the sheets. An undressed Robin was curled into a ball, cuddling the bear Wally bought him for his birthday, and sucking his thumb. Robin fidgeted and whimpered.

"R-Robin."

Wally shook him.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

Robin jolted upright and saw Wally.

"W-Wally, what d-do you want?"

Robin kept gasping for breath.

"Robin, tell me what's wrong."

"I t-told you at s-school."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize..."

Wally hugged him and Robin cried into his shoulder.

_'He acts like a kid around me,'_ Wally thought.

Wally picked up a blanket and wrapped it around Robin.

_'He looks so cute in those boxer-briefs.'_ Wally thought as he looked at Robin's 'black with red flames' underwear.

Wally carried the bundled up boy back to the couch. Everyone came out of the kitchen quietly to see if Robin was o.k., Artemis tried not to laugh at the sight of Robin sucking his thumb and cuddling a teddy-bear.

"What's going on in here?"

Everyone turned around to see Batman and Flash standing in the kitchen. Batman saw the top of Robin's head.

"Everyone, go to your rooms."

Artemis looked at him in confusion.

"But..."

"Your rooms!"

Everyone scurried to their rooms, except for Wally. Flash looked at his nephew sternly.

"Wally, please go."

Wally didn't move.

"Wally."

No movement.

"WALLY FRANCIS WEST!"

Wally winced, but didn't move. Flash strolled over to his nephew and grabbed his arm, but so did Robin. Batman looked at him with his usual expression.

"Robin, let go."

Robin shook his head. Batman sighed, walked over to him, and forced his hand from Wally's arm. Flash dragged Wally to his room.

"Wally, what's gotten into you?"

Wally looked down at his feet.

"Wally, answer me."

No answer.

"Wally,"

Flash lifted Wally's head by his chin.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Wally nodded before looking down at his feet again. Flash sighed and stood up.

"Well, until you decide to give me an answer, you're grounded to this room."

Wally's head shot up.

"But.."

"No 'buts' about it. No t.v., no video games, and no I-pod."

Flash held his hand out. Wally sighed and handed Flash his I-pod.

"When you've decided to give me an answer, knock on the door."

Flash headed towards the door.

"He's my best friend, and he's in a state that none of us have ever seen. He needs comfort."

"It's a shame that you only answered because I took your stuff, but you answered so you're 'un-grounded'."

Flash handed Wally his I-pod and left the room.

_'That's not why I answered...'_

Flash returned to Wally's room a half-hour later.

"Wally, there's trouble in Japan, we'll be back in a few days."

Wally nodded and Flash left. Ten minutes later, everyone came out of their rooms and headed back to the main room. Wally walked over to Robin on the couch, he was squirming and whimpering.

_'Another nightmare...'_

Wally shook him awake.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

"Robin, it's o.k., it was just a dream."

Robin shivered in fear and squeezed his teddy-bear to his chest. Wally hugged him tightly and rubbed his back. Robin sobbed into his chest.

_'Why is he so emotional?'_

Wally's phone vibrated and made him jump. He heard a beep but ignored it, it was Flash, he pressed ignore. Or so he thought.

"_Wally. Wally. WALLY FRANCIS WEST ANSWER THE PHONE!"_

Wally let go of Robin, answered his phone, and ran to his room. He came back a few minutes later.

"Hi _Francis_."

Artemis burst into laughter.

"Shut up. At least my last name doesn't sound like _crotch_."

Artemis grabbed the waistband-area of Wally's suit and yanked upward. Wally yelped in pain as he grabbed his crotch. When Artemis let go, Wally dropped to his knees and laid his head on the ground, his butt in the air.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time."

Wally groaned as he got up, still holding his crotch. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around. Robin was standing behind him, holding the paw of his teddy-bear, and still wrapped in the blanket. He rubbed his eye with the back of his hand and sniffled.

"Come on Rob, there has to be something we can do to cheer you up."

Robin wrapped the blanket tighter around himself.

"You know we'll always be here for you, right?"

_'We'll always be here.'_

Robin's lip quivered and his eyes were full of tears. Wally guided Robin back to the couch and laid him down before going to turn the t.v. off.

"I'll be back in a little bit, my uncle needs me to get his dry cleaning."

Wally exhaled deeply and shot out of the door. Robin whimpered and got back up, heading for the door. Megan stepped in his path.

"Sorry Robin, but you have to stay here."

Robin whimpered and gave her a pretty good puppy face.

"Stop it Robin, the answer's no."

Robin slumped his head and went back to the couch.

"I don't think Robin is upset anymore, I think he just want's the comfort of Wally."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Megan walked over to Robin and crouched down.

"Robin, do you want Wally?"

Robin nodded.

"O.k."

Megan went back to the kitchen and nodded.

"He just wants Wally now."

Artemis frowned and looked around.

"Wait, shouldn't Wally have been back by now?"

Just then, Wally ran into the kitchen.

Robin jumped up and stumbled over to him.

_'Robin just wants your comfort, I asked him.'_

Wally smiled and took Robin back to the couch. When Wally laid him down, he scrambled to find something. Megan handed Wally the teddy-bear and he handed it to Robin. Robin smiled and cuddled it.

"Robin, I'll be right back, I'm just going to our room for a minute."

Robin's expression saddened but he nodded. Wally nodded and headed to their room. Robin's eyes drooped sleepily, he yawned and stretched.

When Wally came back, now in his pajamas, he saw the raven haired boy half asleep. Robin had his thumb in his mouth as he started to dream. When Robin heard Wally, his eyes popped open and he pulled his thumb out of his mouth.

"Aw, you're so cute when you act like this."

Robin smiled a little and sat up straight, the blanket falling off him, showing his undressed body. Wally blushed at the sight of Robins underwear again.

"Robin, do you want me to get your pajamas for you?"

Robin shook his head and laid down on Wally's lap, the blanket falling off the couch when he moved his legs. Wally rubbed his head and smiled as Robin curled into a ball.

After a while, Robin's position had changed in his sleep, his feet where now on Wally's lap and his arm dangling over the side of the couch, still holding his teddy-bear's paw.

Wally slowly got up and went to his room to sleep, thinking Robin would be o.k. for the rest of the night.

Robin woke up screaming, causing Megan, Artemis, and Superboy, to come running out of their rooms. Megan got to him first.

"Robin, what's wrong!"

Her voice squeaked in fright, she was looking for an unseen enemy.

"W-w-w-where's..."

Robin couldn't finnish his sentence. He quickly turned his head, trying to find something or someone. Artemis joined Megan in trying to calm him down.

"Robin, calm down, it's o.k."

"W-W-W-Wa..."

"Robin, please. We can't understand you."

Robin hugged his teddy-bear tightly and pressed his face into it. Superboy saw this and something clicked. He turned around and walked towards Wally's room.

"Superboy, where are you going?"

Megan looked at him, confused.

Artemis saw where he was going.

"No, don't bother Wally, he's already had to do this almost all day. He was exhausted when he went to bed, so let him sleep."

Megan and Superboy looked at her, confused.

_'Since when do I ever care about Wally?'_

Meanwhile, Wally was sound asleep. His bed sheets were wrapped around him tightly and he was snoring.

Robin didn't hear any of what was just said because his head was enveloped in his teddy-bear's fur. Superboy turned and went back to his room as Megan crouched down next to Artemis.

"Robin, try to calm down, please."

"W-w-w-where's W-W-Wally?"

"He's sleeping soundly."

Robin misunderstood her and started bawling.

"W-what did I say?"

They all heard a door open and saw Wally, wearing nothing but red boxer-briefs, walking over to them.

He walked over to the couch and saw Robin sobbing into the bear.

"What's going on now?"

His voice was quiet from just waking up. Megan and Artemis shrugged in response. They moved over to give Wally room and he got down on one knee.

"Robin?"

The raven-haired boy looked up, his eyes bloodshot and tears still streaming down his face. He took one look at the red-haired boy in front of him and hugged him tightly.

"R-Robin..."

Wally pulled Robin off of him and sat down on the couch. Megan and Artemis got up and returned to their rooms.

"Robin, what happened?"

"I-I dreamt t-that you had b-been killed and i-it was all m-my fault."

Robin sobbed into Wally's cold chest. Wally couldn't take it anymore.

"Robin! Get a grip! It was just a dream!"

Robin stared at Wally in shock, Wally had never yelled at him before, it was usually Robin who yelled at Wally. But today was the only day that, every year, Robin became a fragile and sensitive person.

Wally registered all of this from the way Robin looked at him. He had the same expression that Wally had whenever he was sad.

Robin's lip quivered and Wally felt horrible.

"Robin, I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

Robin looked away from him and curled into a ball. Wally stood up and slowly sulked towards his room. He hadn't taken two steps before Robin grabbed his arm.

"R-Robin, I..."

Robin hugged him, which caught Wally by surprise.

"I k-know you d-didn't mean it."

Wally sighed and carried Robin back to their room. Wally laid Robin in his bed before laying down in his own. Wally stared at the blackness for a while before feeling a small lump curl up in the crook of his arm. Wally knew it was Robin, but let him stay, knowing that his best-friend needed him.


End file.
